Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,623 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,697 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.14% of Lincoln Electric worth $15,119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,974,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 806 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $871,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $203.01 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $185.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.61. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $229.00. The company has a market capitalization of $11.33 billion, a PE ratio of 24.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.06). Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $974.39 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.23 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on LECO shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Lincoln Electric

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells welding, cutting, and brazing products worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Americas Welding, International Welding, and The Harris Products Group. It offers brazing and soldering filler metals, arc welding equipment, plasma and oxyfuel cutting systems, wire feeding systems, fume control equipment, welding accessories, and specialty gas regulators, and education solutions, as well as a portfolio of automated solutions for joining, cutting, material handling, module assembly, and end of line testing, as well as involved in brazing and soldering alloys, and in the retail business in the United States.